Improvement in the manufacture of boots and shoes



L. E. De WARU. Manufacture of Boots and Shoes -N0,l55 228, I Patented S ept.22,1874.

Wain G/YJQJ I 17271672802". D 9m zmwn ened by UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIo'n.

LAURENS EMMANUEL DE WARU, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 155,228, dated September 22, 1874; application filed December 1, 1873.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LAURENS EMMANUEL DE WARU, of the city of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Closing Boot or Shoe Heel Seams; and I do hereby declare that the following specification contains a full, clear, and exact description of my said invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which similar parts are indicated by like letters.

My invention relates to that class of boots or shoes in which the heel-seam is strengthmeans of a narrow strip of light leather or kid, stitched on each side of the seam connecting the right and left quarters of the shoe-upper, and known to manufacturers as outside stay.

In forming such scam, the method in use consists in sewing the edges of the quarters together the outside stay being stitched afterward, so as to protect and cover the first seam.

This method is liable to several objections: The stitching by which the stay is fastened to the shoe, being exposed, is subject to wear out, while the raw edges of the stay impair the looks of the shoe.

Another method,'intended to obviate the last objection alluded to, consists in turning under the edges of the stay before stitching it on the shoe-upper; but in this case an important Waste of stock is caused, because, to admit of the proper feeding of the work under the presser-foot of the sewingmachine, the edges of the stay must be doubled under so as to touch, or nearly touch, each other. The stitches of the seams on the outside stay, being also unprotected, are liable to wear out.

To form a heel-seam protected by an outside stay, the edges of which are turned under without waste of stock, and at the same time leaving no stitching exposed on the outside of the shoe, thereby obviating the several objections referred to, is the object of this invention.

My process consists in fastening the heelstay by a blind stitch near the edges of the right and left quarters of the shoe-upper before sewing said quarters together, after which operation the edges of the quarters are connected in the usual manner.

In Figure I of the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, the wrong side of the stay B is shown, the outer edge of which is first stitched on the right side of the left quarter A. The other edge of the stay is then turned over to allow of its being stitched in a similar manner on the right quarter A, as shown in Fig. II. In this figure the right quarter A is represented right side up, while the other quarter, A, and the stay B show the wrong side of the leather.

The distance between the seams connecting the stay with the right and left quarters and the edges of said quarters is deterlnined by the width of the stay, and the manipulation of the work may be simplified by the employment of a guide, in order to secure an even distance from the edges of the quarters throughout the length of the seam.

The stay being now fastened to both quarters of the shoe-upper, the heel-seam is completed by stitching together the edges of the quarters and rubbing down the seams, both of which operations are done in the usual manner.

A top view of the heel-seam completed 1s given in Fig. III of the annexed drawings.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. 'The above-described method of forming the heel-seams in boots or shoes, consisting 1n first stitching the outside stay on the quarters and then sewing the edges of said quarters together, as set forth.

2. The improved article of manufacture, consisting of a boot or shoe the heel-seam of which is protected by an outside stay, the edges of said outside stay being turned under and sewed to the upper by a blind-stitch seam, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

Baltimore, Md., November 24:, 1873.

LAURENS EMMANUEL DE WARU.

W'itnesses:

Gno. A. SUMMERS, JOHN W. BAKER. 

